Child car seats, also known as child restraint seats, are provided in many sizes and configurations. Generally, conventional car seats tend to be xe2x80x9cgrown out ofxe2x80x9d in relatively short periods and, thus, need to be adjusted or replaced at various stages of the physical development of the child. During this growth process, even though a five point seat belt harness, which is usually provided with such a seat, is adjustable with the size of the child, a time comes when the child has become sufficiently large that it is preferable to secure the child in position also with the shoulder belt of an adult seat belt arrangement provided in the vehicle.
When the child is secured to the seat with the shoulder belt, the belt should not pass over the face, neck or throat of the child. In this regard, a belt positioning arrangement to appropriately locate the shoulder belt relative to a particular seat occupant would be readily accepted in the market place.
The present invention is directed to providing a seat belt positioning arrangement that can enable a vehicle shoulder belt to be adjusted quickly and easily to an angle and a height where it will comfortably extend over the upper torso of a passenger secured in a seat by the same. More specifically, the invention is directed to a seat belt positioning arrangement that enables the angle and the height of a shoulder belt to be adjusted to avoid contact with the face, neck or throat of a secured passenger.
In this regard, the present invention relates to a seat belt position adjusting arrangement for a seat having a backrest. The seat belt position adjusting arrangement comprises a mounting bracket adapted to be fixedly secured to an upper portion of the back rest. The arrangement also comprises a belt receiving member that is adapted to threadedly receive a shoulder belt of the seat belt arrangement. The belt receiving member is operatively connected to the bracket, selectively slidable along the mounting bracket, and locatable in a selected position on the mounting bracket.
In this arrangement, the belt receiving member can be formed with first and second elongate belt slots through which the shoulder belt can be passed. The first belt slot can be narrower than the second belt slot, and each of the first and second belt slots can have an opening via which the shoulder belt can be introduced into the belt slots. Additionally, the mounting bracket can have a guide slot, and the belt receiving member can have a shaft which passes through the guide slot, where the shaft is adapted, such as by its cross-sectional shape, to be rotatable through a predetermined angle with respect to the guide slot and slidable along the guide slot.
The above seat belt position adjusting arrangement further can comprise a locating mechanism for locating and holding the shaft in the slot in a selected one of a predetermined plurality of spaced positions. This locating mechanism can comprise at least one pair of opposed detents projecting into the guide slot.
A second aspect of the present invention resides in a method of adjusting the position of a seat belt across a seat, comprising: passing the seat belt through slots formed in a belt receiving member; moving the belt receiving member a mounting bracket fixed to a frame member of the seat backrest; and setting the belt receiving member in a selected one of a plurality of detent positions, wherein the belt angle and height meets individual securing requirements.
A third aspect of the present invention resides in a child""s seat for use in a vehicle having at least one shoulder seat belt. The child""s seat comprises a seat portion, a backrest, and a seat belt position adjusting arrangement provided on an upper portion of the seat backrest. The seat belt position adjusting arrangement comprises a mounting bracket fixedly secured to the backrest and a belt receiving member. The belt receiving member is adapted to threadedly receive a shoulder seat belt, the belt receiving clip member being operatively connected to the bracket so as be selectively movable therealong. This arrangement also can include a locating arrangement for locating and holding the belt receiving member in a selected position on the mounting bracket.
In an embodiment according to this aspect of the invention, the locating arrangement can comprise at least one pair of opposed detents formed on the mounting bracket to engage a portion of the belt receiving member and resist movement of the belt receiving member therepast until a predetermined amount of force is applied in a direction in which the belt receiving member moves along the mounting bracket.